Yoichi Hiruma, usually referred to as Hiruma, is a protagonist and major driving force of the plot of Eyeshield 21. At the beginning of the series, he witnesses Sena Kobayakawa's running abilities and forces the boy to join the team as the ace running back, and hides his identity during games by having him use the codename "Eyeshield 21". He captains and plays quarterback for the series' protagonist team, the Deimon Devil Bats, but also serves the duties of a coach, as the team lacks one. He is responsible for arranging all of the Devil Bats' matches between the Spring and Fall Tournaments, and also devises the majority of the team's practice sessions. His major goal throughout the series is to form a complete team and win the Christmas Bowl with his first two teammates, Ryokan Kurita and Gen "Musashi" Takekura.

Hiruma has a deliberately demonic appearance, and is a subversion of the standard sports hero character archetype. In fact, his last name is spelled with a kanji meaning "leech demon," and his first name is spelled with a kanji meaning "bewitching one." His name can ultimately be read as "demon in broad daylight." He has dyed, spiky blond hair, fanged teeth, and pointed ears with multiple piercings. For various reasons, Hiruma is an intimidating person. He possesses a vast array of firearms, including but not limited to automatic rifles, flamethrowers, and bazookas. He frequently fires his guns into the air to intimidate others or simply when he is excited. He also tends to shoot at his teammates to make them practice harder, but it is implied that he does not use live ammo in these circumstances. Despite his status as a protagonist, Hiruma is often described as "evil" by the other characters, including his comrades, and he has a reputation as a terrifying person throughout Deimon High School. This is not undeserved, as Hiruma has, through blackmail on virtually every person in the Tokyo area, acquired tremendous resources, including nearly complete control over Deimon High. In spite of this reputation, Hiruma's influence and behavior are frequently portrayed humorously, due to the fact that his actions tend to be over-the-top and presented lightly.

The plot of Eyeshield 21 revolves around a physically unassuming and non-assertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa who enters the high school of his choice, Deimon Private Senior High School, where his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki who attended the year before. His only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed, and intense agility; The result of a school life spent complying with the demands of bullies, it was revealed later a friend taught him how to run quickly as a base. His abilities quickly catches the eye of the high school's American football team captain Yoichi Hiruma who forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats as its running back.

To protect his identity to prevent other teams in the school to recruit him for his speed, Sena is forced to publicly assume the role of team secretary, and enter the field wearing a helmet equipped with a green-tinted eyeshield in order to hide his features under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21." The makeshift team initially takes part in the Spring football tournament hoping to win with through the strength of their new "secret weapon." However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early on by the Ojo White Knights, a powerhouse football team that focuses on defense. It is in this game that Sena meets the man he will acknowledge as his ultimate rival, Seijuro Shin, a talented linebacker.

After Deimon's defeat, the Spring tournament is revealed as a secondary in importance to the Fall tournament, where the teams compete for the chance to play in the "Christmas Bowl", the high school football league championship. Hiruma, Kurita and Sena regroup and slowly build a real team from other misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarou Raimon a baseball player who can only catch, The Three Ha-Ha Brothers. Other characters slowly join the team as the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members as well as various rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl.

Visoreds
"Vizard" redirects here. For the family name, see Vizard (surname). For the protective headgear, see Visor.

Group image of the Visoreds with Ichigo Kurosaki in the center. The Visoreds, clockwise from the top center are: Shinji, Rose, Mashiro, Love, Hiyori, Lisa, Hachigen, and Kensei.

The Visoreds are Soul Reapers who have obtained hollow powers.[110] The associated process is referred to as "Hollowification" (虚化 horō-ka?), which was caused by Sōsuke Aizen.[86][111] To gain access to their hollow powers, a Visored dons a hollow mask. This allows them to augment their Soul Reaper abilities with hollow powers, as well as giving them access to some of the generic hollow abilities. The Visoreds have not shown any sort of hierarchy, seeming to prefer a loose-knit organization.[110] While the term Visored is spelled in the manga using kanji meaning masked army (仮面の軍勢 kamen no gunzei?), it is pronounced as the English visored (ヴァイザード vaizādo?), an archaic meaning being "masked". Earlier English translations used "vizard",[112] which instead meant "mask".[113]

The 13 Soul Reaper captains.







The 13 Soul Reaper lieutenants.







Soul Reaper court divisions


The Gotei 13 (護廷十三隊 goteijūsantai?, "13 Division Imperial Guards", or "13 Court Guard Squads" (in the English dubbed version), is the central organization which most Soul Reapers join. It is split into thirteen divisions, some of which have certain specializations. The 4th Division, for example, is the medical/supply division, while the 12th Division is the research/scientific division. Other military-forces exist apart from the Gotei 13 and serve more specialized capacities. The Kidō Corps (鬼道衆 kidōshū?) is a reclusive group that specializes in kidō and is left in charge of the gateway connecting Soul Society to the human world. The Stealth Forces (隠密機動 onmitsukidō?, literally "hidden secret movements organization"), typically led by the captain of the 2nd Division, are tasked with surveillance, covert operations, and imprisoning potentially problematic Soul Reapers. The Zero Division, a secret group composed only of former captains, protects the royal family.

The Captains (隊長 Taichō?, literally "Unit Commander") are the leaders of the thirteen divisions. Each controls a specific division with the exception of the Commander-General (総隊長 sōtaichō?, "Head-Captain" in the English dub), who acts as both captain of the 1st Division and the leader of the Gotei 13; the implication is that this is an ex officio position. With one exception (Kenpachi Zaraki), all captains are able to perform the bankai of their zanpakutō. To achieve the position of captain a Soul Reaper must display great expertise with Soul Reaper abilities and battle tactics, and must be approved by either their fellow captains or the members of their division.

Lieutenants (副隊長 fukutaichō?, literally "Vice-unit Commander") are the adjutants to the captains in each division. In terms of rank, they hold the 2nd Seat in the division. In the case of a division captain's death, departure, or other circumstances making them unable to perform their duties, the lieutenant acts as the substitute captain until another captain can be assigned.[7] The Seated officers (席官 Sekikan?) hold ranks from 3rd Seat to 20th Seat. While the single digit ranks are usually only assigned to a single officer, the lower ranks will often be held by several. Higher digit ranks may also lead secondary teams within the division; for instance, Hanatarō Yamada is the 4th Division's 7th seat and leader of the 14th Advanced Relief Team therein.

Espada

The Espada.
Top row: Nnoitra, Barragan, Grimmjow, Aaroniero, Halibel.
Bottom row: Yammy, Stark, Ulquiorra, Szayel Aporro, Zommari.

The Espada (十刃（エスパーダ） Esupāda?, Japanese for "ten blades," Spanish for "sword") are the ten strongest arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army. They are ranked in order of their strength and have their respective number tattooed somewhere on their body as proof of their superiority. The Espada are also allowed to choose any ordinary arrancar and have them appointed as their direct subordinates, referred to as fracción (従属官(フラシオン) furashion?, Japanese for "subordinate official," Spanish for "fraction"). The members are listed according to their rank.

Ichigo Kurosaki is a Teenager with a bit of a bad attitude and a very short temper. Regardless, he fights others to protect ghosts. (Yes, He can see them.) He keeps to himself a lot and does not like opening up to others. Deep down, he does care about the people around him, even his Dad, who likes to roughhouse with Ichigo.

He is sometimes called "Strawberry" because the kanji for his name, Ichigo, also means strawberry. However, in episode 21 when Ichigo was fighting Jindanbou, guardsman of Gate of the White Way in Soul Society, Ichigo claims that his name translates to "number one guardian" (ichi - first/best, go - "guardian angel").

Ichigo's zanpakuto is named Zangetsu ("Moon Cutter"), though he doesn't realize this until he begins training under Urahara. Its unawakened form is very large and bulky, yet it isn't as powerful as compared to other sealed zanpakuto due to Ichigo's inability to control his own spiritual power (this form of the sword is shown above). This doesn't become apparent, however, until his encounter with Byakuya Kuchiki, who cuts off most of the blade. Subsequently, training with Urahara allowed Ichigo to finally get in touch with the spirit of his zanpakuto and reawaken his Soul Reaper powers. Further training forces Ichigo to finally learn--and call out--its name, thus awakening it. From then on, Zangetsu always assumes at least a released [shikai] state because of Ichigo's overabundance of spirit energy (this is the form seen in the nearby picture). Its special attack is called getsuga tensho ("Sky-piercing Moon Fang"). Again, Ichigo does not realize its name until he talks with the spirit of Zangetsu, who notes that knowledge of the technique affects its power.

Thanks to help from a device of Urahara's, Ichigo is also one of the few Soul Reapers not of captain rank to have achieved his zanpakuto's final release [bankai]--Tensa Zangetsu. What's strange is that most bankai reach out and change into huge forms--his compresses all the power *inward* (the sword itself compresses down into the size of a traditional nodachi or Japanese longsword). So instead of unleashing new attacks, Tensa Zangetsu enhances what's already there, from his natural physical ability (giving him speed that can surpass the flash step) to his getsuga tensho attack (which gains both power and control) to even his garb (which changes into a black coat similar to that worn by the spirit of Zangetsu).

Because Urahara's training took Ichigo to the edge of becoming a Hollow, that Hollow personality remains in him and will emerge at key moments during the Soul Society arc in order to protect Ichigo's life. It also risks emerging if his spirit energy destabilizes--which tends to happen when Ichigo is utilizing the demanding final release. Knowing how dangerous this evil side of him can become, controlling it becomes a constant concern. It is only during the Arrancar arc that he gains better knowledge about his Hollow side and learns how to better control and exploit it. He also realizes then that he is not the only vizard (a Soul Reaper also able to utilize Hollow powers) around.